[Vancomycin resistant enterococcus in France. High prevalence in a young ambulatory care patient population]

Assess the prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in a population of healthy young French subjects.

Stool samples obtained from 100 persons living in south-eastern France (20 sampling sites) were directly seeded on enriched selective media containing 6 mg/l vancomycin. Bacterial species and their resistant gene were identified with classical methods and multiplex genomic amplification.

The incidence of asymptomatic carriage was 17% with a homogeneous geographic distribution of the resistant strains. Nine Enterococcus faecium van A strains and 8 E. gallinarum van C1 strains were isolated.

These findings demonstrate carriage of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in a population of young ambulatory subjects in France. The incidence observed was much higher than in an earlier study conducted in France. These results might be explained by a much more sensitive detection technique. Care should be taken to avoid dissemination in hospital settings.